A robber who targeted lone women across the North-West of England and made off with their handbags has been left stunned with a huge 14-year prison sentence. Jason Cunliffe, 52, masterminded a series of violent robberies targeting lone women across Manchester, Salford and Bury in just weeks last summer – often wrestling women to the ground to get their bags.
Now at Manchester Crown Court, he has admitted five counts of robbery, two counts of fraud and one count each of attempted robbery, burglary and theft. Detective Inspector Natasha Feerick, of Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) City of Manchester Neighbourhood Crime Team, said: “I would like to thank the victims for reporting these incidents to us and allowing us to fully investigate.
“Thanks to these reports, neighbourhood officers were able to quickly identify and arrest Cunliffe.
“His offending will have a lasting effect on victims, and I hope this result will bring some reassurance to them going forward.”
DI Feerick added: “Cunliffe preyed upon women and on many occasions physically assaulted them to take items from them. He stole handbags and other items totalling thousands of pounds.
“Seeing the tenacity from officers across the district to bring justice to those who commit robberies and burglaries has been impressive and reaffirms our stance on tackling neighbourhood crimes such as these.”
Between 17 August and 3 September 2025, 10 incidents were reported in which a man approached women in public spaces and forcibly stole their handbags and other belongings.
In several cases, victims were dragged to the ground and wrestled before Cunliffe fled on foot.
Seven of the victims confirmed having had their handbags stolen. All incidents occurred in public areas, and Cunliffe deliberately targeted women who were alone or in pairs.
GMP said: “On 4 September, officers on proactive patrols in known hotspot areas spotted a man acting suspiciously in Crumpsall. On seeing the police vehicle, Cunliffe attempted to hide by ducking down next to a car.
“Officers saw this and approached, he then fled, prompting a foot chase. Officers pursued and arrested him on the spot.
“After a house search, officers found 12 handbags and other item,s including an iPad, iPhone, Hugo Boss jumper and Samsung tablet that Cunliffe had stolen. Fortunately, our officers were able to return the stolen items to the victims.”
For the year ending September 2025, Greater Manchester saw notable decreases in several neighbourhood crime types, including robbery down 10%, theft from the person down 24% and the same decrease in burglaries.